Is there a gov't agency to help with this?

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Soliloquy

Hey all, long time no see! I'm not sure where to even start looking for help on this, so I figured I could pick the minds of the halforum community.

To cut to the chase: my friend's grandma (who lives in a trailer hburome in yucaipa, ca) just had all of her electrical wires burn out. She lives on social security, and lends out money she can't afford to due to some strong (though ill-advised) religious views.

She's had a falling out with pretty much all her family besides my college-student friend, so she won't be getting any. Financial assistance from them.

What exactly should a person do in this situation. The only people who live in the trailer are the grandma and her mentally-disabled son who no one else in the family is willing to look after.
 
Tress

Tress

Contact social services. That's the only thing I can think of. At the very least they may be able to point you in a better direction to go.
 
strawman

strawman

She should contact her electrical utility as well - they often have low income programs for electricity, and may in some cases have inexpensive providers for household wiring. Your description leaves something to be desired, though, when household wiring "burns out" it usually means the entire structure is a smoldering ruin. I suspect if she asks around she could find a friend who knows enough about wiring to get at least the basic things working - fridge, heater, a few lights and plugs. Then when she has more funds she could have the remainder repaired.

I'd start by turning off all the breakers, then turning on one at a time and testing. If it's not working, then check the meter outside the unit and make sure the trailer community has the electricity turned on for her unit. If it is working, turn on one breaker at a time for the important things, leaving the known bad circuits alone.

Beyond that, I suggest that if her religion requires her to share with other members, she should be able to explain her hardship to her leaders and request the help of her congregation/church.
 
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Soliloquy

I could suggest going to the congregation of the church, though the stubborn woman probably won't be willing to. I'll definitely look into the low-income electrical utility thing.

It's weird, actually... my friend's sister (who is studying to be an electrical engineer) says it looks like someone strong ripped the wires out of the electrical box. The exact words she texted me are as follows:

"The 'electrician' taped the wires together and there were stripped bare wires and circuts hanging out and literally shoved in the hole in the wall box. I'm surprised the house didn't burn down."

Then, later...

"(Her Sister) just looked at the wires and said it looks like when we were in the kitchen someone really strong grabbed the wires and ripped them out of the wall box. The rubber was all hot and the connection etc. was fine and working and then they were open metal frayed like a bare tree. (The mentally-challenged man) was at church and is scared to death. And there was no one else home. It doesn't make sense."

My best guess is that the wiring was really faulty at some specific location to begin with, and some sort of surge burnt them out at that point... but in all honesty, I have no idea what I'm talking about when it comes to electrical wiring, and I'm not there to take a look at it.
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
Could someone have tried stripping out her copper to sell for drugs? It's apparently a thing now.
 
S

Soliloquy

Well, that would imply that someone broke into the trailer while they were in the kitchen, since the wiring problem was inside.

I guess that's possible -- it's a horrible neighborhood and my friend has stopped people from trying to steal her grandma's car -- but it would imply some real stupidity on the part of the criminal. As in, the criminal didn't realize that the electrical wires were what were providing power to the house, and that stripping them would draw attention to the fact that he had broken into a house with people in it.

Of course, that stupidity isn't exactly unheard of among that kind of person. I don't think there were any broken windows or signs of forced entry, though.
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
Guess I missed where the wiring was stripped inside. Hmmm.

Someone needs electrician - badly.
 
Officer_Charon

Officer_Charon

If there was any copper theft attempt, they would have gone after the co-ax cable and outside wiring first. Hyenas snatch up the easiest stuff to grab, because they don't want to work any harder than they have to/ they don't want the time for the greater charge of burglary.

Re: the grandmother: I second Steiny's advice of social services/ the church. Try the church first - this way there's less of a chance of the mentally-handicapped individual getting snatched up into the system. Plus, it's a karmic payback for her piety.
 
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Soliloquy

Just an update, for those who are wondering how this all worked out.

It turns out my friend does know an electrician (a semi-estranged uncle or something -- her family dynamic is complicated, to say the least), and she convinced him to come down and fix everything for her.

The son was apparently at church at the time, so it couldn't have been him who ripped out the wires. So, that entire aspect of the power outage makes approximately zero sense. but hey, at least everything worked out.

Thanks to everyone for the advice! I really appreciate it.
 
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